The objective ofthe Computer Core is to provide PRI researchers with a powerful and reliable computing environment and responsive service and support to address the specific requirements of a large and diverse portfolio of demographic projects. Computer Core services are used by PRI Associates and Affiliates, demography graduate students, and the PRI staff. PRI maintains its comparative research advantage in part because ofthe Computer Core's continual benchmarking of its services, functions, and systems, leading to innovations such as secure data environments, virtualization, and remote access. An external review by Dr. German Rodriguez in 2009 recognized these innovations.